


Deep Blue Kaiju

by SunnySinclair



Category: DC Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Deep ocean exploration, F/M, Gratuitous references to Pacific Rim, Kaiju in the water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 10:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8747329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnySinclair/pseuds/SunnySinclair
Summary: Jane had picked up Einstein-Rosen Bridge type readings coming from the middle of the ocean, so of course that meant going down. Darcy really wished she didn’t get dragged along. There’s more things lurking in the deep than she was ready for.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So all I really know about Aquaman is from Batman The Brave & The Bold and that Jason Momoa is freaking wow in the armour, so the characterisation of Arthur Curry is kind of just what those pictures make me think he'd be like, with some of that super cheery cartoon Arthur tossed in.

“Explain to me again why you, an astrophysicist, a person obsessed with things happening thousands of light years away in space, needs to jump in a sub and go trawling around the bottom of the ocean.”

“We’ve been over this Darcy,” Jane sighed, passing a plastic crate down to the pilot of the sub.

“I know we’ve been over this, but I want to go over it again, because that thing is really small and the ocean is super deep and crazy pressurised.” Darcy paused and looked out over the seemingly endless expanse of lapping blue water. “And there’s things down there.”

“Nothing down there is going to hurt you,” Jane rolled her eyes, wiping a hand over her sweaty brow.

“Haven’t you heard all the stuff lately? Divers and fisherman and stuff all saying something’s hanging out under the water. Something ridonkulously big and scary.”

“There is nothing down there any weirder than fluorescent fish,” Jane said, clearly irritated with her assistant. “Now would you quit standing there shaking in your boots and help me get the sub loaded?”

The next morning Jane shook Darcy awake. With a start she sat up, knocking her head on the bunk above. Boats were so not made for comfort.

“Come on, Greg says the currents are really good to launch. You need to get dressed and we’ll eat before we head down.”

“Have I mentioned how much I hate you lately?” Darcy groaned, not at all ready for this whole deep sea exploration gig. It didn’t help that she still didn’t understand the why of it. The best she could gather was something about anomalous space-type readings coming from ocean coordinates.

“A couple of times,” Jane said, but at least she sounded more amused than annoyed today.

“Good,” Darcy mumbled around a yawn.

An hour later they were climbing in to the small vessel and detaching from the boat. It was strange, being inside the bubble of the sub and watching the water lap higher and higher, until they were completely submerged. And then Greg started pointing them down. It only took a couple of minutes for the last rays of sunlight to get scattered and swallowed by the depth.

“Well this is fun,” Darcy muttered under her breath. Their only visibility was the light that spilled from inside their techno bubble and a single spotlight mounted on the front. Every once in a while something would pass across their field of light, but mostly the things (fish, Darcy swore to herself, they were just fish) hovered at the edges, intrigued but wary of the bright in their black world.

“Oh look,” Jane pointed excitedly as something was caught in their beam of light. “Angler fish!” Darcy looked up just in time to see it’s jaws snap closed on a smaller fish.

“Are we done yet?” Darcy whispered. She wasn’t too proud to admit that she was scared being down here. This world wasn’t theirs, even if it was still their planet, and all that stood between them and crushing death was this submarine.

Add on to that the rumours that had been going around about this area and the giant things wandering around down here that didn’t belong and Darcy really wished she was anywhere else.

Greg and Jane chatted amiably about the trip. Greg was a fountain of knowledge when it came to the deep ocean and the capabilities of the sub. He’d done his best to reassure Darcy that the groans and creaks of the hull around them were totally normal for the depths they were accessing and it was all safe.

Darcy pretended to believe him.

“We’re almost there,” Jane announced, almost bouncing in her seat. “Pass me the sonar field reader.” She waved a hand back at Darcy impatiently, never taking her eyes off of the black space outside. Darcy handed the piece of equipment over and hunkered down smaller and tried to think about open planes or mountain ranges – somewhere large and expansive and most of all on dry land.

She wasn’t even going to apologise for her scream when their vessel gave a sudden jolt.

“Woah, hang on there,” Greg said, hands gripping the controls as he righted them. “Must’ve just gotten caught in the wake of something. Giant squid, blue whale, that sorta thing. Nothing to worry about.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before they jolted again, only this time it was the other way, and hard enough to make them almost fall from their seats. “Must be a couple of ‘em down here. Keep your eyes peeled, it’s not too often we even get a glimpse of these giants.”

“Is it safe?” Jane asked, and Darcy was a little gratified to see that she looked rattled too.

“I’ve done almost a ‘undred of these dives and nothing’s ever gotten the best of me yet, don’t worry.”

Darcy really wished she had Greg’s confidence. Especially when their sub shuddered and Greg looked at the instruments, perplexed.

“What? What’s going on?” Jane demanded.

“We’ve stopped movin’,” he said. “Just gonna put some extra thrust to the engines, shake loose o’ whatever we’re caught on.”

“Um…guys?” Darcy pointed a shaking finger over their heads. “Is that a claw?” She whispered. It certainly looked like one. A very very large and very sharp one.

“Couldn’t be,” Greg said, but he wasn’t sounding anywhere near as confident as he had a few minutes earlier.

And then their sub was moving again, only it wasn’t forward, it was backwards.

“Oh my gods,” Darcy blanched, as their beam of light landed on a large expanse of…something. It looked vaguely scaly, but with iridescent edges and too smooth lines. And there were spikes, too.

They all screamed when their field of vision moved past a mouth – just as dark as the water around it and full of teeth glowing blue – and up to an eye. There was an actual eye, looking at them from just the other side of a suddenly way too thin bit of space-age plexiglass.

“We’re gonna get eaten by a motherfucking Kaiju?” Darcy shrieked. “I am so never forgiving you for this Jane. Never!”

“It’s not my fault!” Jane was shrieking back.

Greg had just frozen completely, eyes wide with fear and shock.

Without warning something else darted across their field of light, almost too quick to even see, and barrelled straight on into the creature’s eye. They felt the roar it gave out, the vibrations shuddering through the ship.

There was another roar and suddenly their little sub was sinking, down and away from the face of the thing and the very human-looking thing that was attacking it.

“GREG!” Both women shouted in unison, and Jane gave the man a punch to the shoulder. It was enough, apparently, to get him to shake his head and re-connect with reality. His hands tightened on the controls, the engines coming to life again, and he made to get them the hell out of there. The sheer size of the thing that had snatched them was mind boggling – they kept having to dodge out of the way of it, that odd glowing skin appearing in their field of vision again and again.

The vibrations of its roars kept coming too.

They all screamed again when a man appeared in front of them. He rapped lightly on the hull and pointed them up and to their left, then disappeared again in a flurry of bubbles.

“What the hell was that?” Jane breathed.

“A totally armoured buff guy?” Darcy breathed, then started to giggle. She was definitely in shock, that had to be it. In shock and seeing attractive men just casually swimming around hundreds of feet below the ocean surface and punching Kaiju’s in the eye.

“Did he have a trident?” Jane asked, turning to look at Darcy with wide eyes. She just nodded and giggled again. “Greg, think we should be going where he was pointing?”

Greg didn’t say a word – he was still staring in wide eyed horror, but his hands on the controls were steady and already amending their course.

It felt like an eternity before the black started to give way to blue. As the water around them grew lighter sea creatures of the more normal variety started to show up. A pod of dolphins came swirling past, but even that wasn’t enough to shake the tension.

Until Darcy looked up as a couple of dolphins swam overhead and saw their saviour with them, one hand gripping a dorsal fin. He looked down as he past and grinned.

Darcy swallowed and gave up trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

They surfaced, nowhere near their boat, but that didn’t stop Greg from hitting the button that opened the hatch on top and letting in a swathe of fresh briny air.

None of them spoke, too busy taking deep breaths and thanking every god in heaven, Asgard and everywhere else that they were alive.

A thump on the back of the sub made them all let out fresh shrieks.\

“Good day!” As one they looked up to see the man propped up on top of their sub and beaming brightly. His long hair was dripping, golden armour glinting in the sunlight.

“Um, hi,” Jane said, blinking at him. That grin turned her way and her cheeks turned pink.

“That was a close call,” he continued, the smile dimming. “What were you doing in that area of my ocean?”

“We were-”

“Your ocean?” Darcy interrupted Jane. “Who’re you meant to be, Poseidon?”

“My name is Arthur.”

“…Seriously?”

He nodded and his smile shifted to a smirk, his gaze on her unwavering.

“Uh, we should really get back to the boat,” Greg said weakly.

“A good idea. These waters are not safe right now.”

“Wait!” Jane called out as Arthur made to slip back in to the water. “How did you- I mean, that thing, and you just, and it was…”

“I’ll see you safely to land, you have my vow,” he said with a nod of his head. “I’ll think about your answers when you’re safely clear of this place.” Jane gaped at him, but it was too late. He’d fallen back in to the water with a splash and they could only watch as he plucked his trident from a dolphins mouth.

“So, who’s thinking we’re experiencing some kind of mass hallucination from, like, submarine gas leak?”

“Sub doesn’t have gas.” Greg said, giving Darcy an odd look.

“A girl can hope can’t she,” she sighed, slumping back in her seat. “Can we just get back to solid land now? Please?”

The hatch slid shit and sealed again and Greg guided them back beneath the surface, just, to chug along.

Arthur and his crew of dolphins darted in and out of view as they went.

Darcy focused on their path, watching them swim. It was better to focus on a hot man than on the horror that was lurking below. It kept her going all the way back to their boat. Greg was the first to climb out, offering a hand down to Jane to help her out too. Darcy was still watching Arthur, who’d just hauled himself up over the railing and on to the deck one handed.

When his large hand offered to help her out she wasn’t about to say no.

She hadn’t even found her feet before Jane was there, cutting in and demanding his attention.

“Ok, we’re clear. I need answers, now.”

“Of course,” Arthur inclined his head, releasing Darcy to take Jane’s hand. He bowed over it, placing a courteous kiss against her skin.

Jane flushed pink again and stammered.

“Jane Foster. Doctor.”

“Doctor Foster,” Arthur smirked, patting her hand before letting it go. “A pleasure to meet you, even under such circumstances.”

Darcy couldn’t help making a comment, even one just under her breath. “Of course. Thunder God isn’t enough, she’s gotta get a Sea God drooling too.”

She’d blame it on the stress later, but right now, with Arthur giving her an amused look over his shoulder, she couldn’t help being jealous. It wasn’t like Jane didn’t deserve a gaggle of crazy hot men fawning, but it’d be nice to be the one getting that kind of attention just once.

Jane was demanding answers again and Darcy used the distraction to head to the bow of the boat and try to clear her head. She could still hear them talking, Arthur explaining the creature was foreign, an interloper in his waters. He didn’t know where it came from or what it’s purpose was. It was impervious to his telepathic attempts at communication.

Somehow, after everything she’d seen that day, the idea that he could talk to fish in his brain just didn’t seem that outlandish.

The voices had faded away, in to the cabin, and Darcy wrapped her jacket tighter around her body as the boat picked up speed, racing towards land.

“You hold up remarkably well for one who came so close to death.” Arthur braced his hands on the railing beside her, looking so out of place with his armour and tribal tattoos on the modern ship.

“Yeah, well, it’s not the first time something terrifying has tried to kill me,” she shrugged. “First Kaiju though.”

“There’s no rift on the ocean floor to another dimension. Not a Kaiju.”

She looked at him with wide eyes. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who’d take the mickey, but his cocksure grin was unmistakeable.

“You’ve seen that movie?” She finally settled on saying. “Didn’t know they had Imax in the Pacific.”

“They don’t. But the entertainment system in my home is quite impressive.”

“Oh.” That one stumped her.

“I didn’t catch your name earlier.”

“Darcy.”

“Well, Darcy, perhaps you’d like to see it, to judge it’s impressiveness for yourself.” There was that grin again, and she was getting the feeling he wasn’t just talking about his TV. “I would even concede to watch Pacific Rim again.”

“Don’t you need to be, I dunno, taking care of that critter?” She asked, hoping to divert attention from the fact she’d just flushed as pink as Jane.

“Your Doctor Foster is contacting her man and his team for input. I have a few hours to spare.”

“Oh. Cool. Well, ok, I could hang for a while. One condition though?”

“Name it.”

“No Pacific Rim.”

Arthur gave a loud roar of laughter and, though she’d never tell Jane, Darcy thought it was an even better sound than Thor’s.


End file.
